Author: JT

Mobile gaming set to change with new COPPA rules

| December 26, 2012

mobile gaming security rules childrenFTC issues amendments to COPPA that could affect mobile gaming

Earlier this month, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a U.S. agency committed to promoting consumer protection, issued a call to the mobile applications industry to bolster their security measures for applications that are designed for children. Mobile gaming application are rampantly popular among children, and the FTC believes that the majority of these applications do not have adequate security measures in place to protect the information of consumers. The agency has released amendments to the Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) this week detailing some of the changes that must be made to mobile gaming and the applications business in general.

Developers banned from collecting information from children

According to the COPPA amendments, mobile gaming applications are completely forbidden from collecting personal data from users that are under the age of 13. Developers will have to received parental consent in order to obtain this information. The ban keeps mobile gaming applications from collecting geographic information as well in an attempt to provide young consumers with another layer of protection. Geographic information is often used in marketing to target specific demographics.

Developers tasked with securing personal information

The changes to the COPPA law also close a loophole that allowed applications to collect a wide assortment of information from consumers. These applications often use third party solutions to acquire personal information from users. The FTC notes that developers and applications providers will need to take reasonable steps in securing the protection of a child’s personal information and ensure that this information is kept confidential.

COPPA changes may be difficult to comply with due to consumer honesty

Changes to COPPA may have an impact on the mobile gaming sector, but app developers are likely to adapt well to the changes. There are concerns that children often use mobile applications without the consent of their parents. Protecting the information of young consumers is largely linked to the honesty of these consumers, which can be a problematic issue as young consumers tend to bend the truth in order to gain access to applications that may not be suitable for their age group.

OpinionLab study highlights consumer satisfaction with tablet devices

| December 23, 2012

Tablet Devices T-Commerce StudyOpinionLab sheds light on consumer feedback

OpinionLab, a leading provider of Voice of Customer feedback, has released its Holiday 2012 eCommerce Site Experience Findings study. The study focuses on shedding insight on the experiences that consumers had using mobile commerce and e-commerce platforms during their holiday shopping in 2012. Christmas has yet to arrive, so the study mostly accounts for the experiences consumers had during the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The study draws upon the information provided by more than 43,000 consumers.

Consumers favor tablets over smart phones

Mobile commerce had a strong showing during the holiday shopping season this year. Millions of consumers made use of their mobile devices in order to purchase the products that they wanted the most. According to OpinionLab, one theme dominated the feedback they received for the study: Most consumers favored their tablet device over their smart phones when shopping. The study notes that consumers using tablets were more satisfied with their shopping experience than those using smart phones.

Tablets are not ideal for commerce

Though consumers preferred their tablet devices, the study shows that tablets were most favored for shopping, not for actually purchasing products. The study indicates that more consumers used tablet devices to research products, price hunt, and browse online stores. Customer satisfaction begins to diminish when mobile transactions become involved, with consumers claiming that tablet devices are not well suited to take advantage of e-commerce platforms. Part of this may be due to the fact that e-commerce platforms are rarely optimized to be used on tablet devices.

2013 may be a great year for mobile commerce

Tablets are becoming more popular with consumers, presenting a promising opportunity for retailers and other businesses in terms of engagement. Tablets have already shown promising growth this holiday season and this momentum may well carry into next year. OpinionLab predicts that mobile commerce will have an even stronger performance in the 2013 holiday season than it did this year.